Grant: Project Grant

Health practitioners around the world are fighting a losing battle against multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria that are the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. We are investigating a family of bacterial surface proteins that allow bacteria to avoid immune detection and survive during invasion of the human host. These proteins are anchored on the surface of these bacteria via lipids - thus called "surface lipoproteins". These surface lipoproteins play essential roles in acquiring nutrients for the bacteria and evading the host's immune system. Since the functions of the surface lipoproteins are required for the bacteria to survive within the host, surface lipoproteins have become important targets for the development of vaccines and antibiotics. This research project focuses on targeting the pathway that lipoproteins utilize to get to the cell surface of pathogenic bacteria. We will obtain molecular details to delineate the mechanism of lipoprotein export and explore various ways to inhibit lipoprotein secretion to the cell surface. Information on the lipoprotein export apparatus will aid in the development of novel antibiotics and vaccines. Through these objectives, we will help specifically eradicate these pathogenic bacteria and aid in the global crisis of infections caused by multi-drug resistant strains bacterial pathogens with a particular focus on Neisseria gonorrhoeae the causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhea.